Mr Falafel – The Best Palestinian Falafel

I love falafel. I love those crispy crunchy nuggets of ground chickpeas and herbs and spices. However, I know that it’s quite difficult to get a good one. Supermarkets are the worst offenders – the leaden balls of dry crumbliness they sell give falafel a bad name. A passable falafel can be had at many of London’s Lebanese restaurants and in a pinch, Maoz Falafel in Soho is pretty good. But I knew they could be better. There had to be a place in London somewhere that produced superior falafel. I had faith. I had faith in London.

I’d heard a rumour that Shepherd’s Bush Market was the place to go for falafel and for a couple of years, I thought that place might be the little black and white stall that you see just at the entrance facing the tube station. But it was this post by the Syrian Foodie in London that pointed me in the right direction. It’s easy to get confused though – I counted at least three falafel stands in the market. Mr Falafel is located in the New Shepherd’s Bush Market, behind a produce stall and across from a clothing stall and a luggage stall, just off the Uxbridge Road.

Mr Falafel claim to have the best Palestinian falafel in London and to date, I’d say it’s the finest falafel I’ve had in the city so far. Of all the options available on their menu, I chose a Medium Deluxe Falafel Wrap (with fried caulifower, potato and aubergine). Would I like chili sauce? – Yes, please! I sat down at one of the tables and my order was brought to me when it was ready.

The medium size was perfect for my little lunch – I wonder how large the large size is! And that wrap was delicious. The fried vegetables were all tender and tasty but it was the falafel that were the stars; the chickpea nuggets were beautifully browned and crunchy on the outside but so so light on the inside. No dense leaden balls here! Wrapped in a flat bread with lots of crunchy, tangy pickles and garlic sauce aplenty, this was a fine lunch.

That looks gorgeous! I adore falafel but there is nowhere near me that does them. The best ones I’ve had on a trip to London was in the outside market bit of Borough Market. Cooked frsh in front of you, lots of pickles, salad, tahini and chilli sauce – delicious!

Ooh, nice one. I used to get some decent falafel from a tiny shop at the top of Fulham Palace Road — though the key there was to get the freshly-fried ones rather than the ones that had been sitting on the side of the fryer for a while.

There’s a lot of interesting-looking stuff in that little market — I kept meaning to have a proper hunt through when I lived nearby, but somehow never got around to it.

That looks and sounds great – a proper mix of crunchy, moist and crumbly. With some taste to it as well. To date, the best ones I’ve eaten in London are from a stall on Whitecross St market – they were a real revelation for me. Yum. VERY morish.

What do you think makes it Palestinian falafel, versus, you know, falafel?

I love going to Pilpel (spitalfields market) at lunchtime. I haven’t liked the Borough Market falafel very much, but I think it’s because that stand gets crushed on weekends and so they make a pretty inconsistent product under all that stress.

Hey – I went there today as I happened to be in Shepherds Bush and I had tucked this recommendation into the recesses of my mind. It was better than brilliant. I had the wrap with the makdous (as recommended by franmouse) and it was great. I hadn’t realized it had walnuts when I ordered it, now I know what the nutty crunch in it was. My only objection to the place was finding it in the market. And what a market – felt more like being in India than in Britain. Also its as good as anything I’ve eaten in Jerusalem or Ramallah (admittedly those memories are fading).